Associations between parental attitudes towards mental illness and self-reported mental health among young people: Evidence from the Health Survey for England.

Abstract

Background. The prevalence of mental health problems among young adults has rapidly increased over the past decade. The argument that reductions in stigma lead to less under-reporting over time is often presented as a potential explanation. As a first step towards understanding how stigma influence self-reporting in this age group, we examine the extent to which parents' attitudes are related to young people's self-reported mental health. Methods. We leveraged the household design of the 2014 Health Survey for England to test whether mothers' (complete-case n = 630) and fathers' (n = 428) prejudice and tolerance towards people with mental illness is associated with the self-reporting of any specific mental disorder and non-specific psychological distress (GHQ-12) in participants aged 13-24. Associations were tested in random-intercept Poisson models (nesting participants in households) adjusting for parents' sociodemographics and mental health, and participants' own sociodemographics. Results. Mothers were on average less prejudiced (81.2 versus 74.1 out of 100) but as tolerant (72.0 versus 70.0 out of 100) as fathers. In fully-adjusted models: 1) those with a less prejudiced (PR for a one-unit increase = 1.036, 95%CI 1.007-1.066) and more tolerant (PR = 1.038, 95%CI 1.011-1.066) mother had a higher probability of reporting a mental disorder; 2) those with a less prejudiced (PR = 1.034, 95%CI 1.006-1.062) father had a higher probability of reporting a mental disorder; 3) those with a more tolerant father also had a higher probability of reporting a high level of psychological distress (PR = 1.024, 95%CI 1.008-1.041). Conclusion. Parents' attitudes were associated with their children's mental health, more so with specific mental disorders compared with non-specific psychological distress. New data collection efforts are needed to understand changes in parental attitudes over time and its relationship with self-reporting among young people.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Funding Statement

TG holds a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. AM is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ES/W001454/1).

Author Declarations

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

The study used ONLY survey data located on the UK Data Service.

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

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I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.

Yes

Data Availability

All data produced are available online on the UK Data Service. NatCen Social Research, University College London, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. (2018). Health Survey for England, 2014. [data collection]. 3rd Edition. UK Data Service. SN: 7919, DOI: 10.5255/UKDA-SN-7919-3

https://www.doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-7919-3

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